Armenia, Azerbaijan Accuse Each Other Of Violating Cease-Fire

Armenia and Azerbaijan on January 23 accuse each other of fresh cease-fire violations along their border.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry says two Armenian soldiers were killed in the northeastern district of Tavush on January 23 by Azerbaijani troops who fired across the border.

The ministry said it returned fire, causing “many casualties” among Azerbaijani troops and forcing them to pull back from their positions.

But Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry accused Armenia of violating the cease-fire and said there were not any Azerbaijani casualties.

Tensions have remained high between the countries since their conflict over Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region in the early 1990s when Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region.

Since a 1994 truce, diplomatic efforts to resolve that dispute have brought little progress.

Both sides frequently claim cease-fire violations by the other, but clashes along the border have intensified in recent months.